Key:bus

bus
Description
Access restrictions for public transport buses, or vehicle type on route relations.
Group: restrictions
Used on these elements
Documented values: 5
Useful combination
highway=* amenity=parking public_transport=* lanes:bus=*
See also
access=* psv=* tourist_bus=*
Status: de facto
bus=* More details at taginfo
Tools for this tag
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See also the psv=* access tag which includes public transport buses as well as other public service vehicles.

The bus=* tag in OSM was meant to be used for buses that are acting as public transport vehicle.

There are two main uses of this tag:

1. To specify legal access restrictions for buses acting as public transport vehicles,
2. to specify the type of passenger public transport vehicles that use a stop or station.

In most countries a bus is a larger public service vehicle or public transport vehicle used to transport passengers, with more than 9 or 12 seating positions, but the specific definition may vary by location. Long-distance and inter-city bus and coach=* vehicles may or may not be included. Trolleybuses are usually included.

Ambiguity of the meaning

In addition, it is important to note that the bus vehicle type is quite unique in that, contrary to various other vehicle types used by the OSM community, it tends to have different definitions not only for different jurisdictions, but also for different uses within the same jurisdiction as well. For example, even if lanes:bus=* will usually be used to denote lanes for public transport buses, maxspeed:bus=* will usually be used to denote maximum legal speed for all buses.

This matter is for a long time a subject of repeating (and, sadly, inconclusive) discussions, e.g.:

• Talk:Conditional restrictions § bus vs. tourist bus
• Talk:Key:access § Bus has multiple meanings
• Talk:Key:psv § Bus has multiple meanings
• Motorbus as generic bus tag – OpenStreetMap Community Forum

How to map

As an access tag

Add this tag to roads, lanes or other features which are designated for public transport buses.

• the original use of bus=*, since mid-2009, is as an Access tag, with values such as bus=yes, bus=designated and bus=no
• Add bus=designated to a feature, such as a highway=*, specifically designated for use by public transport buses.
• Add bus=no to a feature where access by public transport buses is prohibited.
• The tag bus=yes is also frequently used for features where public transport buses are permitted.
• List of possible values with descriptions: see Key:access
• All used values on Taginfo

To specify the use of a public transport bus stop or platform

• Since 2011, some mappers have used bus=yes with highway=bus_stop, public_transport=platform, or both, to specify that a feature is a bus stop. This is the most common use of bus=yes.
  • Note that bus=yes with highway=bus_stop and amenity=bus_station is redundant, as bus=yes is implied by these tags. However, this combination is common in part because editors like iD will throw an error if highway=bus_stop is missing a bus=yes.
• The Public Transport proposal in 2011 approved using bus=yes with public_transport=stop_position on a node on the highway=* way to show where a bus stops on the street.
• Some mappers have used bus=no with either feature to specify that buses do not stop at a bus stop or stop position where they might be expected to stop - for example, on a road shared by trams and buses.
• Also see trolleybus=* which is used in this way, but specifically for electric buses powered by electric overhead wires.

To specify the type of bus service

• When the service is segregated into distinct service categories, some mappers use route=bus + bus=minibus (PTv2-compatible) instead of route=minibus
• Other mappers use the bus=* key to define the type of bus service (urban, suburban, interurban, intercity)

Possible tagging mistakes

access=bus

More details at taginfo

• access=bus🔎 ‒ Use bus=yes or bus=designated instead

If you know places with this tag, verify if it could be tagged with another tag.
Automated edits are strongly discouraged unless you really know what you are doing!

See also

• access=* - general access restrictions
• psv=* - common tag for public transport service vehicles, including buses, taxis, minibuses and share taxis.
• trolleybus=* - specific tag for trolleybuses.
• school_bus=* - specific tag for school buses.
• tourist_bus=* - less common access tag for vehicles of the bus class which are not acting as public service buses.
• coach=* - uncommon access tag for long-distance buses, usually between different towns or cities
• lanes:bus=* - to mark the travel lanes reserved for buses only on a way.
• bus:lanes=* - for describing the legal accessibility per lane (Example value: yes|yes|designated).
• lanes:psv=* - to mark the travel lanes reserved for all PSV on a way.
• oneway:psv=* - to override oneway=* for PSV
• oneway:bus=* - to override oneway=* for buses only
• minibus=* - access restrictions for minibus services
• share_taxi=* - access restrictions for share taxi services